


Grapefruit Moon

by Anonymous



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Blood and Violence, Cryptids, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Monster Transformation, Monsters, Post-Game(s), Smoking, also later on he's, monsterhunter!Robert, slowburn, the reader is your dadsona, werewolf!Robert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-06 19:34:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11607525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Robert shows up at your door in the middle of the night asking for help. Mothman may be bullshit but whatever has him so on edge is definitely real. Can the two of you protect Maple Bay from the things that go bump in the night, no matter the cost?Monsterhunter!Au that takes place after the game where you and Robert protect the city from the supernatural.-Rating for later chapters-





	1. Chapter 1

 I run as fast as I can with sore knees and blood dripping into my eye, just barely dodging trees and jumping over fallen logs. I can hear savage growls and snarls but I don’t dare spare a moment to look back. I come to a clearing and stop just as I get to the edge of the cliff. From here I can see all the twinkling lights of the city and the full moon’s bright reflection on the bay. It’s quiet- not even the cicadas are out tonight- so I can hear it just faintly crunch on forest debris as it approaches from the woods. Shaking, I turn around. It’s stopped at the treeline, glaring at me from the shadows with glassy black eyes and exposed teeth, saliva dripping from its maw. Out of options, I raise my gun. I feel on the verge of tears as I try one last time and hope against all hope.

“P-please… fight it, Robert”

 

••••

 

“Aww Dad I promise I’ll visit soon”

Amanda gives a sympathetic smile as she makes a heart with her fingers. “I’m having a great time with Val and her girlfriend though; their loft is huge and they make the best French toast ever!”

“I’m glad you’re having fun, just remember to thank them for letting you stay with- hey wait I thought I made the best French toast ever”

“Dad remember that time you killed the microwave when you put eggs-”

“Alright, alright never mind the past is in the past… I guess I’ve been dethroned as breakfast king” I mock sob and throw a hand over my face dramatically.

It gets a chuckle from Amanda as she adjusts her laptop.

“They also took me to a new art gallery last night and Val introduced me to some of her clients,” her excitement didn’t quite reach her eyes. “They were all really cool artists and they gave me their business cards!”

“That’s amazing Panda! I’m so proud of you,” I beam and give her a thumbs up “You’ve worked so hard for this internship, I know you’ll get so much out of it”

She goes quiet for a moment before speaking again.

“It’s…surreal to have all these talented professionals around me saying they’re interested in my photos. I’m flattered and excited but…I’m also kinda scared of messing up y'know? Like what if I make something they think is childish or what if I don’t deserve this-”

“Honey you’re selling yourself short- your photos are incredible! You’re still learning, true, but Val and everyone else recognize that! They don’t expect you to know what an industry veteran would right away! Your fresh take on things clearly shows how much potential you have to become even better. Val may have given you the opportunity to prove yourself but you did all the rest. Panda, I’m so proud of you and I know you’ll knock their socks off”

“I love you dad,” Amanda says shakily as she cries a little. “I miss you”

“I love you too, Manda Panda,” I try and fail not to let my voice crack as I hold back my own tears “Remember I’ll always be here for you if you need me”

After a little while more of chatting, Amanda reminds me of how to end the video call and we say goodnight.  
I settle in for the night on the couch with a blanket and watch some t.v, though I’m too lost in thought to really pay attention. It had been a year since Amanda had gone off to college. She visited as much as she could, though mainly on holidays. Even home, she had to do projects that kept her up into the late hours of the night. As much as I’m proud of her for working so hard to achieve her dreams, I worry for her a lot.

It was quiet in the house without her here, which at first I had thought only a little of. As time passed though, the silence became a constant reminder that for the first time in almost twenty years, I was completely alone. When I talk about how different it is to live alone now with Robert, he nods and lets me vent. Sometimes interjecting with comments or awkwardly worded comfort, but mostly he knows the best thing is to just listen.

The highlights of my weeks are usually when Robert and Mary get me out of the house to drink with them. Step by step Robert has been repairing his relationship with his daughter. They still have a way to go, but now a days he smiles a lot more often and even showers at least every other day. Some nights he even skips drinks and we just go to his house and watch whatever movie he wants to show me. Mary usually ditches us those nights in favor of harassing young men for drinks, so we grab snacks and talk through the movie without fear of anyone complaining.

Neither of us had said a word about being anything more than friends since Amanda’s graduation party. I understood he needed time to get his life in order and I’m proud of him; changing your ways is difficult, especially at our age. I’m content to give him as much time and support as he needs.

Sometimes though, I catch him giving me long quiet looks before he notices I’ve seen him. Usually at that point he downs his drink and proceeds to tell a questionably fabricated story. I play along for his sake and say nothing. Other times I wake up in the morning to see that beside my newspaper a little wooden carving of an animal is sitting there. It always gives my heart a little squeeze when I find one waiting for me. I ended up installing a shelf exclusively for them in the living room but the first one I found, a little boston terrier, I keep on my nightstand.

I catch myself grinning like an idiot as I think about him, but it fades as soon as it appears. It’s been about a month since Mary or I last saw him. She’s tried several times to dissuade my concern, waving it off and telling me that he’s done this exact thing a couple times before.

“Don’t sweat it, geeze- he’s a big boy and knows what he’s doing” She had patted my shoulder and downed a shot. I don’t think she noticed that I saw the tiniest amount of doubt in her eyes.

His truck hasn’t been in his driveway and he hasn’t responded to any of my messages. Amanda would have mentioned if Robert had gone to visit his daughter in Boston because she’s staying with her for the summer, which makes me nervous to say anything about it for fear of making Val stress about it too. He usually has me dog-sit Betsy if he’s going out of town, which makes me even more afraid.

Both dog and owner haven’t been heard from and I’m starting to get worried that he’s…

I turn the t.v off and trudge up the stairs to bed. I don’t want to think about anything worse- it’s all too familiar ground in my mind. Instead I pat the little boston terrier carving and plop down on top of the sheets with my foot hanging off the bed. Too hot for blankets.

A little while later though I get paranoid and burrito myself despite the heat. No one has to know my irrational fear of monsters coming out from under the bed to eat my exposed limbs. That’s between me and the monsters.

As I feel about to drift off to sleep, I hear a faint tap at my window. I dismiss it as some dumb moth or other winged bug. Then I hear another tap. Then a louder tap. Then my window shatters and I sit up. I hear someone swear outside. I proceed to also swear, storm down the stairs and out the door, expecting to find Ernest or some kid with a similar disposition for being a turd booking it out of there before I can catch them.

Instead I find Robert standing there staring at me like a dear caught in headlights, pebbles of varying sizes in a neat pile sitting in his truck bed behind him. After a few moments, he does a little wave, an embarrassed smile crooking the corner of his mouth upwards.

"hey”

 

••••

 

Both of us look up at the shattered window, not saying a word. Finally, Robert clears his throat.

“I’ll uh, I’ll pay for that”

“What exactly was the thought process here? When has chucking rocks at stuff ever resulted in good things?”

Robert scratches the back of his neck and looks away “I mean it did get your attention”

I sigh and fake punch his shoulder. He bristles at that but doesn't say anything.

“Hey, I’m glad you're back, but what was so important that you had to throw rocks at my window in the middle of the night instead of just messaging me like a sane person?”

His face becomes grim and guarded as he shrugs “Don’t trust technology so much, also my phone’s dead but listen there’s something I have to-”

“Can we talk about all this inside? You and me both need coffee for this and I just realized I’m not wearing pants again” I head towards the door, gesturing for him to follow.

He raises an eyebrow “Did you just invite me in for _coffee_? Really?”

“Not like that! I meant coffee not ‘coffee’,” I make air quotes with my hands which gets a smirk from him “Look man, I’d rather not be out here in my undies where the chances of Ernest getting blackmail on me skyrocket exponentially”

“I was just messing with you, but fair enough” He flashes a wolfish grin as he sees the flush in my face.

Robert shuts the tailgate of his truck and we go inside.

I head up the stairs to change as Robert meanders into the kitchen. I can hear him from my room as he rummages around for coffee filters. Looking at the smattering of broken glass, I decide that cleaning it up is a problem for future me and tiptoe around, careful not to step on debris. After pulling on an old sweater and pants, I go downstairs to find Robert has the coffee on. He leans against the counter, arms crossed with an expression that says he has no idea what to do with himself.

Robert catches me staring and I decide that now’s as good a time to ask questions as any.

“Why did you leave without saying anything? I was worried,” I fidget in my chair “,When you didn’t respond to any of my messages for so long, longer than normal, I thought you might be in trouble"

“That’s what I came to talk about,” he pours us each a mug and sits down across from me. He stares down into his coffee for a moment. “Just give me a sec to think about how I can explain this”

We sip quietly at our coffee as he figures out the right words for what he wants to say. When he’s halfway through his mug, Robert begins.

“You remember the first time I took you up to my spot just outside the woods- I told you that Mothman is bullshit?"

" I remember that night mostly as the night I cut myself doing grandpa hobbies and then us getting freaked out over some dude dumping garbage in the forest, but yes I think I remember you telling me that"

"Right well, Mothman is still bullshit but,” he looks up at me, a grim determination set in his eyes “Cryptids and monsters really do exist and I actually do hunt them. I’ve hunted them for years.”

I blink rapidly and try to keep a neutral expression as I wait for him to continue. When Robert doesn’t say anything more, only giving me an uncertain stare, I look him dead in the eyes and whisper:

“What even the fuck,Robert.”

He sighs and drinks the last of his coffee. I stand up.

“Bobert Small, you show up to my house at three in the morning and break my window after being M.I.A for weeks- just to mess with me?!”

“Don’t call me-”

“No don’t I’m not done! You had me worried half to death! I didn’t know what to do or if I should call Val because Mary thought you were fine but you never just up and leave with Betsy for so long- Oh and another thing; where’s Betsy?!”

“She’s fine, I just took her home before coming over here,” he rubs his temples “and I’m being completely serious”

I cross my arms, unimpressed.

“Promise?”

“Yeah, I promise,” he starts to get up to refill his cup but I snag it and do it myself “thanks- I'm sorry I made you worry. I really didn’t want to drag you into this whole thing it’s just…I didn't know who else to turn to”

My expression softens as I see just how ragged Robert looks.

His eyes are tired looking and the dark shadows under them are all too telling that he hasn’t been sleeping well. In the light I can see he’s got a few extra greys in his hair, which is more disheveled than usual. His leather jacket looks like its seen better days and his shirt looks like it’s just gotten back from the trenches. I can faintly smell pine needles and…ozone? coming from him.Robert's hands tremble ever so slightly around his cup.

He’s telling the truth.

“ What exactly happened that made you leave for so long?”

“Before I tell you that I should start at the beginning; Maple Bay isn’t as quiet as it looks”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so this is baby's first posted fic but I've had this idea in my head for a little and decided to go for it. My intent is to write in a similar in style to the in-game descriptions in regards to being vague about the reader's appearances so you can imagine whatever your dadsona looks like as you read. Also, the title is a reference to the Tom Waits song 'Grapefruit Moon'. I thought it fit the overall theme I'm going for.
> 
> I'll be posting the next chapter pretty soon, just gotta finish it. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

“Jersey Devil?”

“Yeah”

“Chupacabra?”

“As common as rats- sort of look like ‘em too except bigger and scaly”

“Sasquatch?”

“Nah that’s just a bunch of hicks all trying to get famous on the internet, Batsquatch is legit though”

I try unsuccessfully to hold back a snicker.

“I’m not bullshitting you, it’s a good thing there aren’t many of them because they’re hell to deal with,” Robert says as he plugs his phone in and impatiently taps at it. “Damn thing won’t hold a decent charge anymore”

“Ok so let me just…let me get this all straight; cryptids are real, except apparently Sasquatch and Mothman-”

“And a bunch of Lochness monster rip offs,” He leans back in his chair “Ol’ Nessie herself is real though”

“- and Maple Bay is on some sort of allergic ley line that attracts them all?”

“ _Telluric_ ley line- like, uh” Robert rakes a hand through his hair “It was explained to me as kind of like a current of energy that they pick up on and follow”

“So why have I not seen even one around here then if there’s so many?”

“Ever the skeptic,” he looks almost proud as he says that “Between me picking off the ones that don’t feel like hiding and their natural instinct to conceal themselves it’d be pretty tough to spot one”

Rubbing at my eyes, I check the clock on the stove and good lord it’s a little after four in the morning. The last time I was up this early was when Amanda was in diapers.

“How are you not passing out right now? You don’t look like you’ve slept for days”

“There are more important things right now to do” He grunts and avoids eye contact.

“When was the last time you slept?”

Robert takes a moment to think “two days ago I got in a couple hours at a truck stop”

“Jesus, Robert it’s a wonder you didn’t have an accident” I frown “Look maybe we should pick this up tomorrow when you’re not running on empty”

“Can’t, we have to go tonight” His expression is unreadable as he pours another cup of coffee.

“Go where?”

“Hunting”

Robert is silent for a minute. He doesn’t turn around, opting to stare out the kitchen window into the dim morning as he continues.

“There’s something…wrong with this city. It’s not the ley line itself, but something must have come here that’s old even by cryptozoological standards. The older they are the stronger and craftier they get, and whatever this one is knows how to cover its tracks, pretty damn near untraceable. The only thing that tipped me off is the bolder activity from other lesser cryptids; they’re drawn to the powerful almost like they are to a ley line”

“So is that what you’ve been doing then, trying to track it?”

He turns and nods, then looks at me with the most serious face I’ve ever seen him make, which is impressive considering he makes a lot of them.

"I hadn't planned on being gone so long, but I heard about some teenagers going missing a couple days before around where I've had sightings so I took Betsy and tried to sniff out anything. I must have looked for about two weeks but the most I found of them was torn up shoes and - you get the point"

My face must betray how sick I feel because Robert doesn't go into detail.

“We did find a trail, but... we found something else,” He lifts his beat up shirt just past his stomach with a grimace “Not that it isn’t obvious by now but, I’m gonna warn you: this job is dangerous. I’ve been doing it for a long time and I have my fair share of close calls so if you um…you good?”

I feel anything I could have said die in my throat as I fully register the large angry red bite wounds in Robert’s side. They look well disinfected and are scabbing over, but also deep and painful.

“It’s nothing, I’ll be fine” His eyes dart away as he pulls his shirt down. “Look if you don’t have enough wild in you for this it’s no big deal-”

He lets out a startled squawk as I spring up from my chair and pull him in for a hug.

“You idiot,” my words are muffled against his chest “You should’ve asked me sooner”

 He breathes out a contented sigh like he’d been holding his breath and lets me hug him there for a while. When I finally pull away I look up and see his eyes crinkle around the corners as a soft sad smile up turns the edges of his mouth.

 After Robert leaves to go get some sleep, I sweep up the glass and make a quick job of duct-taping up the hole in my window. Close enough. As the sun is rising, I fall back on my sheets and look up at the ceiling. The clock by my bed clucks rhythmically as minutes pass by.

As I fall asleep, the last thing I think of is how much I missed my friend.

 

                                                                                                                                 ••••

 

Several hours later I wake up to my computer beeping at me. Groggily, I stumble over and squint at the bright screen.

 

Hey

Hey wake up

Meet me in twenty outside

Bring that knife I gave you a while back

And whatever you do

Don’t wear your shitty sandals

Hey

Get out here

Don’t make me honk

We’ve been down this road before

You know I will

 

I groan and scrub a hand over my face. What time is it? I open the curtains and find the sky a blaze of orange and purples.

“How did I sleep all day?” I say under my breath. I go back and hastily type out:

 

Be out in a sec

And they’re not shitty just well used >:(

 

I change into my going out clothes plus a jacket and my favourite only-slightly-beaten-up runners. Rummaging around in my nightstand drawer I find Robert’s knife and head downstairs.

I lock the door as I go outside to see Robert’s truck idling in the laneway. He’s sitting in the cab furiously texting. I startle him as I open the passenger side door.

“Took you long enough” he grunts

“Am I gonna find a whole bunch of angry texts when I get back?”

“…maybe”

We chuckle as Robert pulls out of the laneway and down the street.

“You ready for this?”

“The real question you should be asking is are the cryptids ready for this because I am so ready to kick their elusive asses”

I am not in fact ready to kick their elusive asses.

“Excellent”

Robert pops in a tape and we both grin as AC/DC’s “thunderstruck” starts to build to a dull roar in our ears. I look out the window as the neighborhood flies by- Mat and his daughter are drawing on the chalkboard sign outside his coffee shop, an older woman is walking down the street with a kindly smile and Lucien and his friends are huddled in an alleyway crushing cans and smoking -when I realize something.

“How come you’re not driving out in the direction of the woods?”

“One of my motion sensors picked up activity by the docks today. I figure we’ll start you off small”

"Don't you think the super powerful old monster is more important?"

He shakes his head “I still don’t know where it is and besides- you’re inexperienced. You could get us both killed if I don’t show you the ropes”

“While you’re lack of confidence in me is upsetting, it’s also probably accurate”

While at a red light, Robert fishes around in the glove compartment until he pulls out a small cobbled together looking device straight out of a bad sci-fi movie and hands it to me.

"Hold down the red button on the side"

I click it and sure enough it comes to life. It makes little odd clicking noises and the black screen lights slightly up.

"When it starts making an annoying blip sound and green dot appears, that means one is close by"

"Geeze did you beat up Egon Spengler for this thing?"

Robert barks out a short laugh “It’s old, must have been at least a decade ago I got sick of chasing raccoons and stray dogs and ended up taking apart an old boat radar and splicing it together with an electromagnetic radiation detector”

"Wait you actually _made_ this?"

"Don’t look so surprised”

“I just didn’t peg you for the tech savvy type, seeing as you still can’t figure out how to work an ipad”

“Shut up, you can’t figure out Wi-Fi”

“I’m pretty sure it’s pronounced ‘wee-fee’ ”

Ten minutes later we arrive at the docks and park behind an old warehouse.

“Ah yes that day old fish smell,” I grumble as I hop out of the truck cab and stretch “my favorite”

I turn to see Robert stuff something in his jacket discreetly and start walking to the back door. Instead of going in through said door though, he starts pushing a nearby dumpster underneath a window left open. He grabs an old crate and hops up on the dumpster like he’s done it a million times and motions for me to do the same. Glancing around and seeing not a soul in sight, I gracelessly scramble up with the help of Robert.

“I’ll boost you up and over then unlock the door- should be a flashlight underneath a large metal shelving unit on your right-“

“Whoa time out”

“What? You’ve never done a bit of breaking and entering before?”

“Not exactly, as long as we’re not counting that time I locked myself out of the house when Amanda was ten and she refused to unlock the door on the grounds I couldn’t prove I wasn’t an alien sent to replace the real me”

“Smart kid”

“I’m extremely proud but that isn’t what the issue is,” I glance up at the window “What if there’s y’know…stuff in there”

“Relax, it’s probably a false alarm- cat or something. Unlock the door and I’ll be right in”

“Got it…wait how do you get in normally without someone else?”

“Lots of precariously stacked boxes, don’t try and stall”

Sighing, I resign myself to being hoisted up as Robert throws me up like a sack of anxious potatoes onto the windowsill. As I try to look for a decent place to land, I lose my balance and go crashing down.

“Hey! You alright?”

“Its fine I landed in a crate of …fish heads, wonderful” I groan.

Ignoring the fact I never thought I’d have to say that particular string of words, I endeavor to free myself from the slimy pit of fish face and start looking around.

In the last dregs of dusk, the warehouse’s contents make it a dimly lit maze full of shadowed corners and pungent smell. Sure enough on my right is the large shelving unit with crates upon crates lining the wall. Walking quietly over and crouching down, I squint as I feel around for the flashlight. After a few moments of patting down the concrete floor, I feel my hand brush briefly across something  _alive_ before it hisses at me and moves away.

I all but fling myself backwards from the shelving unit.

The cat books it past me from underneath the shelf with a piece of fish in it's mouth and I sigh in relief. 

Soon after, I find the flashlight and begin making my way through the maze of shelves. It's a dim light, the bulb must be going, but it keeps me from running into low-stacked boxes and a puddle of what I really hope wasn't fish blood.

I realize too late I hear the device Robert gave me beeping rapidly. 

Something screeches unlike any animal I've heard before behind me, and I turn around without thinking. At the exact same time, the flashlight dies. Never taking my eyes off the pair of red ones slowly approaching, I step back until my back collides with a large crate. I can hear Robert shouting something from outside but I struggle to make it out with my heart beating so loud in my ears.

“-run!”

Suddenly I’m running and looking desperately for the exit. I can hear it skittering behind me, shrieking madly as it chases, so I speed up as I finally see the red exit sign and fumble with the door. As its closing in, I throw the door open and am immediately pulled to the side as Robert aims a small crossbow and fires without hesitation. It gives a final screech before falling silent.

Robert has a firm grip on my arm and is asking if I’m alright but I can only nod. He looks me over for any injuries and then sits me down on a box as he moves to examine the creature. 

About the height of a medium sized dog, a rat-like creature with dull green scales lays dead three feet away with an arrow bolt wedged in-between its beady red reptilian eyes, blood seeping from the bottom. Robert flips on the lights and retrieves the arrow. He looks disturbed as he toes the thing’s head and rolls it on its side.

“You’re not supposed to be up this north” He mutters as he rakes a hand through his hair.

As the initial shock subsides, curiosity wins out and I move closer to get a better look.

“It’s a Chupacabra- the things are all over the continent, they’ll eat whatever they can get, but the bigger ones stay down south,” He says as he reloads the small crossbow “except for y’know, this one I guess”

“Hey, Rob?” I stare down at it in disbelief.

“What?”

“Cryptids are real”

He pats my head “This is the first time I’ve seen one bigger than a rabbit around here, had I known I would have gone in first. You did good though, we’ll make a cryptid hunter of you yet”

I feel my face heat up at the simple praise, so I change the subject.

“What now?”

“Now I check around for more and you go get the box of trash bags I tucked behind the seat”

After checking around and finding nothing else, we bag up the Chupacabra and put it in the back of the truck. Robert drives south along the water until we come to a secluded parkette that was more accurately a patch of deserted yellow grass and brush that overlooked the ocean.

Slinging the garbage bag over his shoulder, Robert and I quietly make our way to the edge. We find some large rocks to weigh it down before he throws the bag over the railing and it lands with a large splash. As we watch it sink, Robert lights a cigarette.

“He sleeps with the fishes” I say as I do my worst godfather impression.

“C’mon, we better get going” Robert rolls his eyes but can’t hide the twitch of his mouth.

“Where to?”

“Well first we're gonna stop and get you cleaned up and then I’m buying a new car freshener because you smell like dead fish”

“Not my fault but fair- then what? Do I get to learn how to exorcise vengeful spirits? or how to keep vampires from reading my mind? ”

“I'm gonna teach you how to shoot " He says as he stalks off to the truck.

 "...that's ok too I guess"

                                                                                                          

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Join us next week for another episode of gay monster-hunting dads doing illegal stuff


End file.
